


The Bird Boy of Fukurodani

by delta6453



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Canon Compliant, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-26
Updated: 2017-12-10
Packaged: 2019-02-07 06:20:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12835113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/delta6453/pseuds/delta6453
Summary: There's a rumor going around that there's a guy with wings running around Fukurodani. But then again, rumors are always just rumors....Right?





	1. Chapter 1

Among the muttered conversations and rustling fabric of the changing room, Akaashi studied the team roster. As usual, he had finished changing first, and had started on the captain’s duty. Despite the fact that the real captain stood beside him, fumbling with his tie, trying in vain to pull it off without untying the knot. It might have bothered him more if he hadn’t noticed Konoha’s furtive smirk as he pulled on his own slacks. 

“Saaay, have you guys heard of that ‘Bird Boy’ rumor?”

His eyes locked on Akaashi’s, grin widening. Akaashi could only exhale, and rub at the growing crease between his eyes. Of course they had. Who hadn’t?

Fukurodani High School had, like so many other Tokyo high schools, its various mysteries. These were mundane, the type students used to spice up their otherwise boring everyday lives. So, of course, there were classics like the missing seventh step and the moving diorama in the science room. These were the ones that had trickled in from other schools, and were largely unsubstantiated, save the consistently jittery student who claimed, yes, they were certain they’d seen a strange shadow on the second floor. However, among these was one that happened to be unique to Fukurodani. One which seemed to overstep its bounds, inch its way into ‘urban legend.’ A mystery that was both too much and just enough of a coincidence. 

A mystery which students eventually coined “The Bird Boy of Fukurodani.”

It was only in his second year that Akaashi himself first heard about the mystery. As far as he was aware, no one even knew how long the story of the Bird Boy had been around. It was only in that summer that every student and their grandmother suddenly knew the story down to its gritty details. Even if Akaashi tried his best to steer clear of fads and otherwise unbelievable gossip, the vigour with which even his own classmates discussed the subject made avoiding it all but impossible. And soon, perhaps it had been unavoidable, the rumor which had been whispered nothings but a week ago had seeped its way into the conversation of the volleyball club. With people like Konoha and Bokuto around, it really had only been a matter of time. 

Komi threw over a disapproving glance, turning to berate the boy despite his state of undress. “Not you too? It’s a pile of crap is what it is. Dumb rumors always float around like this.” Washio nodded solemnly. 

However, Konoha was nothing if not perseverant. And unwilling to admit defeat. “You have no sense of fun. Think about it, what if the Bird Boy is actually-”

“Hey, what are you guys talking about? What’s the Bird Boy?” Bokuto blinked his large eyes once, twice, turning his blank gaze towards each team member in turn. Akaashi sighed. One of Bokuto’s flaws was his inability to be left out of any conversation, concerning him or otherwise. At least he’d finally managed to pull off that confounded tie. 

“C’mon, captain, you can’t not know. Everyone’s always talking about the Bird Boy-”

“And you jumped on the bandwagon, as always.”

“Shut it, Komiyan. Try to remember, it’s that one guy who’s supposed to have these huge wings.”

Bokuto’s glance settled upon Akaashi, heading tilting to the side in owllike fashion. If there was a bird boy, he was clearly standing right in front of him, the only expression on his face one of vacant confusion. “No, never heard it. Must be because me and Kaashi stay late, right? We’re busy, there’s no time for rumors.” 

Konoha looked them up and down, snorting in their direction. “Right, of course.” Sensing his opportunity, he stopped in the doorway. “I bet Akaashi knows all about it already, though.” 

What an irritating bastard. Not like there was much he could do, already feeling the heat of Bokuto’s sorrow, his anguish at being left out by, God forbid, his one vice captain. 

“…Akaashi?”

One logical move. 

“No, I’ve never heard of it either.”

Konoha rubbed his hands together melodramatically, probably delighted at the prospect of a shorter practice on such a hot day. “Alright boys, settle in for a great, sweeping story…” 

Akaashi blinked, rubbing at his eyes. Hearing the Bird Boy story for the third time in the same day was really something he didn’t need. Especially when Bokuto was evidently hanging on to every word and would doubtlessly be up all night thinking about the rumor. Which was made even worse by the fact that Bokuto’s all-nighters melted into his own as the boy never stopped sending disjointed texts in his direction. 

“… so, he jumped off the roof! But, he never landed. Cause, of course! Wings, right?” 

Akaashi sure wished that Fukurodani had a mystery involving a residential witch. One who knew just a little black magic and could be bribed into putting a spell on Konoha that would cause him to wake up with hair the color of broccoli. Apparently though, their school’s only true magical creature was one that did little more than flutter around and jump off rooftops. 

Konoha finished with the story off with a bang. Literally, he jumped off the bench and smacked a knee against the floor. Earning a couple of polite claps from first years, and groans from the rest of the team, he limped out of the room. Akaashi would doubtlessly have to file a form explaining the injury. And how the hell would he justify a bruised knee and torn ligament that had occurred, of all places, in the changeroom? God, he might have to start learning black magic himself at this rate. Obviously, it would come in handy quite often. 

 

He and Bokuto stopped off on their way home from practice to buy popsicles from the convenience store. Curiously though, the ace was strangely quiet. He wasn’t rambling on about volleyball, or stumbling over his own feet like he usually did. He was staring down wordlessly at his popsicle. If silence was ever alarming, it was when Akaashi was in Bokuto’s presence. 

“What’s wrong, Bokuto-san?” 

Bokuto’s eyes widened, and he looked up suddenly. As if he only just noticed how the lamplights had been flickering on across the street and his popsicle had melted all the way down his hand. With a loud exclamation, he struggled to lap up the remnants of cherry flavoured water. A vague smile appearing on his lips, he returned his gaze to Akaashi. 

“N-nothing! Why would you ask?” 

Akaashi shrugged, peering down at his own popsicle stick, already licked clean. “Winner,” it said, in blocky black lettering. They started walking, passing over a lemon puddle of lamplight. 

“No reason. You’re acting a little odd, is all.” 

Bokuto jumped in front of him impassionedly. “I’m totally not!” The crease between his eyebrows quivered and then fell. “Besides, why do you even care Akaashi? It’s not like I did anything wrong, is it?” 

“Now, now, calm down, Bokuto-san. We can’t have our ace acting like this, can we?” He handed Bokuto the popsicle stick, which he promptly grabbed with a sticky hand and beamed at. “Besides, I just-”

“Wow, Akaasghi, I can really have this? You’re the man!” He began to run in the opposite direction, yelling all the way. “Can’t let this go to waste! See you tomorrow!” he called, but by then the darkness had already swallowed him whole. And Akaashi was standing alone, wondering what whirlwind had passed him by and barely scratched him. 

“…just wanted to…” 

Whatever. Akaashi scrunched his nose up, continuing his walk home alone. Bokuto was acting strange, but he’d seen Bokuto act stranger before. It couldn’t be anything that bad. More importantly, it couldn’t be anything that he wouldn’t get to the bottom of. 

 

The next day, conversation regarding the Bird Boy had yet to ebb. And to Akaashi’s dismay, Konoha’s fascination with the subject had only grown. He’d begun to analyze the possibilities of flight, required wingspan for liftoff, potential distance one could fly based on the many pictures that had begun to float around. 

Bokuto had become a bigger problem then the day before. He was shifty and skittish, falling into moods far more easily. Akaashi wasn’t too worried just yet. After all, there had been that one time when he and Kuroo had managed to fill one of the volleyballs with peanut butter and Bokuto had hidden that for a week. Well, precisely until the ball exploded in the middle of the court and Akaashi had splotches of red obscuring his vision for the rest of the practice. The point was, Bokuto hid mundane stuff all the time, although mundane was no way to describe anything that had to do with Bokuto, and Akaashi always eventually caught wind of it. This was nothing to concern himself over, he reassured his uneasy mind. 

He felt someone elbow him in the ribs. Konoha, with an arrogant smile and a debonair stance. 

“So? What do you think of our Captain today?” 

“He’s doing fine, Konoha-san.” 

Konoha’s façade dropped in an instant. “What, you’re not going to ask why I’m asking or anything?” 

“Quite frankly, no.” 

Konoha huffed, throwing his arms down. “Whatever. You’re no fun. But, I’ll tell you anyways. I was thinking, don’t we sort of already know the Bird Boy?” 

Akaashi narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean?” 

“C’mon, it’s obvious! It’s totally Bokuto, isn’t it?!” 

“…You’re being daft.” Akaashi wished he had a better response to such an idiotic notion.

But Konoha took no notice, running off to share his crackpot theory with the others. He would call the entire thing a headache waiting to happen, but he already felt his temples pounding. How enjoyable. 

 

Day three, four and five brought about Konoha’s continuation into his scientific studies of the Bird Boy. He finally convinced a fellow student, a photography club member, to give him a picture they had snapped of the Bird Boy. He had then strolled about practice, chest puffed like a peacock, showing off the thing. Definitive proof, or so he said. 

“Soo, Akaashi, what say you about this?!” 

As if he expected Akaashi’s eyes to widen and mouth to fall open, he shoved the photo in Akaashi’s face. His expression didn’t change. In fact, he stifled any muscle that might have moved under the skin of his jaw just so not to give Konoha the satisfaction. 

“What should I be seeing, Konoha-san?”

“Aw, come on man, that’s a clear silhouette! The wings, the jacket, the hair…”

Yes, it really was, Akaashi thought as he examined the picture. Indeed, he squinted, taking the picture from Konoha’s hand, that was an incredibly familiar silhouette. In fact, if he looked around the gym, he was sure he could pinpoint whose figure exactly he was reminded of… 

“Ah, so you notice the resemblance too? Thought you might.” Konoha had cocked a smile and raised an eyebrow. Akaashi nodded, defeatedly. It wasn’t looking very good for a certain ace right about now. “All of us guys have agreed, but I thought you might have something to say on it.” 

“Yes, the resemblance is certainly… striking.” 

“Akaashi, it’s not striking, it’s the same damn person! If this shitty picture is enough to tell, it’s obvious! Of course though, he doesn’t seem to get it at all. Or maybe he’s pretend- “

“He’s never been good at acting.” 

Konoha scratched at his head in exasperation. “Well, I don’t know! Just ask him yourself or something. He’d tell you if he was.” Konoha took the picture back, scrutinizing it again. “But man, if he is… that’d be a fucking blast! Who would’ve thought, huh?” 

Not Akaashi, that’s who. 

 

Bokuto insisted they buy popsicles again that night. So they spent the walk home daintily licking cherry and grape flavored suckers, occasionally knocking arms with the other. Both took care not to speak to the other. For Akaashi, it was a matter of apprehension and shame. Wouldn’t he look like an idiot if he went around asking people whether they were hiding the fact that they were secretly birds? Especially when he was referring to Fukurodani’s ace, who he should by all means know the best. 

But of course, as always, it was Bokuto who was the first to break the silence. 

“Did Konoha show you that picture too?” 

“He did, Bokuto-san.” Bokuto fiddled with the hem of his shirt, looking terribly conflicted. 

“What did you think about it?”

Not much, really. Just that it kind of looked like someone he knew. Which wasn’t really ‘not much’ in retrospect. Now, Akaashi certainly didn’t want to consider the fact that the team ace was hiding a pair of wings under his jacket, but he’d brought it up himself. Anyways, he’d always looked a bit owlish, maybe secretly being a bird ran in the family. Akaashi would just have to steel himself and ask, anxious or not. 

“Bokuto-san, are you the Bird boy?” 

Both stared at the other, gazes unmoving. Bokuto simply blinked twice, before breaking into guffaws. “Is that what you were thinking?” He wiped a tear from his eyes. “N-no way, I’m a good jumper and everything, but I’m not a bird!” 

Akaashi’s eye twitched. It’s not like he’d said anything outrageous, well, perhaps he had, but it’d made sense in context. Still, he felt relief wash over him. Obviously Bokuto wasn’t the Bird Boy. It’d just been a freakish coincidence after all. He could go to school the next day, and laugh when Konoha’s face dropped like a pile of rocks at the fact that, no, Bokuto was not the Bird Boy at all. Unless he had lied. Which was all but unthinkable, because while Bokuto avoided the truth, but he didn’t lie. Or, it was more accurate to say he couldn’t, he’d self destruct while trying. And even if he could, Akaashi reasoned, he would never lie to him. Would he? 

“What the hell, why would you even think that!?” 

“There was the picture.” 

“Oh, right.” His face fell again. “That picture, it was weird, huh?”

“…Indeed.” 

Bokuto continued, studying a point on Akaashi’s collar. “But who cares, right? It’s just some dumb picture.” A moth fluttered overhead, causing the light to dance across Bokuto’s features. They were solemn in a way Akaashi couldn’t explain. “Well… I gotta get home. See ya tomorrow, Akaashi.” 

He stood rooted to the spot, playing with his fingers. Bokuto had avoided his gaze completely. How he was doing it, or why, Akaashi had no clue. But, he was lying all right. 

His phone was suspiciously quiet that night. No stupid questions, indecipherable texts, calls about whether it was cannibalism for him to eat chickens. That one made quite a bit of sense now. Absolutely nothing, radio silence. He checked his phone again, ignoring the shudder that ran through his body. God, how he wished him and Kuroo had loaded another ball with some condiment. It’d be better than having to deal with a legitimate owl hybrid for the rest of his life. 

 

He woke up suddenly, feeling a tepid breeze lick against his bare arms and neck. He rubbed his eyes, turning his gaze towards the open window. It was far too hot. And he had definitely closed it hours ago. The curtains undulated carefully, moonlight streaming in and bathing the furniture in a feeble blue. If he hadn’t been half asleep and rubbing the sweat from his brow, he would have thought the light strange. Otherworldly, perhaps. But the clock was stuck at 3:00 AM, blurring in and out of focus, and that was the hour that pretty much did away with rational thought. He tiptoed towards the window begrudgingly, God it was burning, and reached out to pull the damned thing shut. But then he stopped dead in his tracks. Something, someone had climbed onto the sill. 

He was standing there, wearing only a pair of black pants. A crooked smile, hands placed firmly on his hips. The ribbons of moonlight fell in streaks across his pale chest. They settled across his hair, creating peaks of jagged opal. Akaashi allowed his eyes to fall on his face, glance up at the eyes that were joyous and electric and the sharpest gold he’d ever fucking seen. 

“Akaashi! What’s up?” 

Glued to his back, a large pair of wings. Long slick feathers, painted with whites and gentle grays. Akaashi’s eyes widened, this time for real, and he rubbed at them. As if sensing Akaashi’s incredulity, Bokuto, because he was standing on his window sill and not a blurry picture and could in no way be anything else, pointed towards them proudly. 

“Oh, these babies, huh? Check ‘em out.” 

With ease, he ruffled them open. Stretched them so wide and long that they could have been curtains. Still, the light played off them, tracing the grays, coating the whites. Akaashi was rendered speechless. Or not exactly, because he was the first to speak. 

“They match your hair.” 

Bokuto just threw his head back, laughing so hard Akaashi winced and thanked the Gods his parents hadn’t been woken. 

“That’s the first thing, you say Akaashi?! I expected at least a ‘Wow, how cool!’ or ‘Bokuto-senpai, you’re the best!’ You could have at least cried a bit, ya know.” 

Akaashi was too busy watching the feathers slide across one another, all delicate and velvet, and fold onto his back as he climbed into the room to acknowledge the idiotic comment. He stepped back, rubbing at his eyes once more. Any drowsiness was done away with by the chimera smoothing down his wings. Bokuto raised his eyes, regarded him in concern. 

“Oh man, are you okay?! I know it’s probably really weird that I have wings, or something, but you’re looking really pale and not saying anything.” 

The feathers looked very soft. Not to wax poetic, but he was rather like a seraph, wings streaked grey with ash. Not at all what he’d expect of some scraggly creature dubbed the Bird Boy of Fukurodani. Not at all what he’d expect of Bokuto. 

“Akaagshi?!” Bokuto was becoming increasingly perturbed, hopping from one foot to the other. “I know I didn’t tell you the truth and everything, but I meant to! Honest! And look, I’m here now, right? So don’t be mad!” 

On the contrary. He was astonished, if anything. “I-it’s alright, Bokuto-san, I’m just slightly overwhelmed.” He sat back on the bed, willing his head to pause its incessant pounding. He was just a bird. It wasn’t anything he hadn’t dealt with before. 

“Aw, that’s a bummer. I totally wanted to fly you around the town, show you all the lights… It’s like Northern lights, but ya know, on the ground! Cool, huh?” 

Yeah, he was over guessing himself. Bokuto was a bird! An actual, legitimate, fucking bird! How had he caught on to the fact that Bokuto had an adverse reaction to kanji that had more than 13 strokes when he hadn’t caught the entire bird thing!? Sure, he’d been over it in his head a bunch of times-

“Akaashi, you really don’t look good!” 

-but it made not a bit of sense! There was no way this kind of thing happened in real life. He closed his eyes, shutting out the ghastly cobalt that had fallen over everything, the vague figure that hopped around and seemed awfully distressed, the damn clock with hands that didn’t move. 

“Just wait! I’ll grab you something to drink, and be right back!” called a voice. But by then Akaashi had fallen back, limbs leaden and cheeks burning, and dropped off into a deep sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

It wasn’t that Bokuto wanted to lie. For God’s sake, he didn’t even like lying! But, he had realized that some things were just better left unsaid, especially when emotions ran high. He’d learned that as a young boy, because his mother had been particularly unpleased when he’d let it drop that he’d used her favorite plate as a Frisbee, and surprise, surprise, had broken it. The ensuing commotion was enough to send shivers down his spine and essentially convince him that maybe he ought to be more careful with his secrets. 

Anyways, although Akaashi wasn’t exactly someone who allowed his emotions to run high, although he totally should because more enthusiasm never hurt, he seemed awfully invested in the entire ‘Bird Boy of Fukurodani’ thing. He had brought it up twice! That was practically unheard of, him mulling over anything that wasn’t setting techniques. So, it occurred to Bokuto that he shouldn’t just let his secret out like it wasn’t anything. He should plan it out, be careful with it. After all, Akaashi was the last person he wanted to upset. 

However, the next day brought about a strange series of circumstances. Akaashi wasn’t there for their usual morning practices, and if that wasn’t weird enough, lunch rolled around and practically no one had caught whiff of him. Akaashi was always around! He would always pop out from behind a wall or something, appear out of thin air at times. Honestly, it was kind of difficult to do much when he was always nearby and watching or listening or doing whatever he did. Bokuto had seen him jot things down in his notebook while watching him. He’d even gotten used to looking over his shoulder at home, almost expecting Akaashi to climb in through an open window and scold him for whatever stupid thing he was doing. It wasn’t weird, well yeah, maybe it was, but it was kind of cute too. It wasn’t like he was opposed to it. Not at all, it was nice to be able to throw his jacket and have it always hanging in his locker when he went looking for it. So, having Akaashi not there was… yeah, disorienting. And kind of sad too. He held up his lunch and looked it over. It hung down sadly, a boring piece of bread in a plastic bag. 

He sighed, hopping off to the roof. The guys were always there, and Konoha would probably know where Akaashi was. 

“Konohaaa, have you seen Akaashi today?”

“Hmm,” he scratched his head, speaking through mouthfuls of food. “Short black curly hair, about yea high, and all-around kind of prickly dude?” He shook his head slowly. “Nope, doesn’t ring any bells.” 

“Konohaaa.” 

The boy narrowed his eyes, returning his attention to his sandwich. The others didn’t react. 

“Konohaaa, where’s Akaashi??” 

Konoha threw down his food, standing up in annoyance. “Well, I don’t know! I’m not his babysitter!” He crossed his arms and looked down at the rest of the team, yet to react. “Why would I even know?” 

Well, Bokuto didn’t know who else to ask, so there was that. Besides the rest of the team, the only other people Bokuto had seen him hang around was, well… just himself, maybe? He didn’t really know much about what Akaashi did when he wasn’t around. There weren’t very many times he wasn’t around though, that was why! He probably did homework or cleaned the house or talked to his grandmother over the phone. Yeah, those were ‘Akaashi’ things. 

But it wasn’t an Akaashi thing to skip school. And not tell him. Nope, no way. So someone had to know where he was. 

“Do the rest of you guys know where he is?” The guys looked around, and all shook their heads in sync. Bokuto was starting to get annoyed. And bummed out, he still hadn’t eaten lunch. “Well, who would know then?”

Again, they looked at each other blankly, and said nothing. What the hell? Why was Akaashi suddenly so mysterious? Konoha, as if fed up with the silence, clicked his tongue. 

“Shouldn’t you know? You guys are always cuddling up and shit, it seems pretty odd you wouldn’t know anything about the dude who’s practically your wife.”

At that, Bokuto could feel his cheeks get hot. The rest of the third years tried, and failed, to keep from snickering. Ah man, Kuroo’d been right about choosing carefully who to tell about your crushes. The team’d been no good about it, none at all. They’d tease him at every opportunity, or make dumb kissing sounds when only he was within earshot. And, the worst of it all was that when he’d told them, all embarrassed and hesitant, they hadn’t even reacted. Dude, we know, they’d said with straight faces. And _then_ the teasing had really begun. 

“…Couldn’t you have at least called him my boyfriend or something?” 

Konoha snickered. “Nope, you guys are too much of a married couple for that. Anyways, we don’t know. Try the managers, they always know.” 

He would have been happier about the prospect if he wasn’t still scared Yukie would tear him in two for stealing her ongiri that one time last week. Say anything about Fukurodani, but they all loved their food. Sometimes, he thought they would have made just as good of a competitive eating club as a volleyball club. Man, if Akaashi was so good at stuffing his face with food, imagine how he could…

“Oy, are you listening?” Konoha was snapping his fingers in front of his face, looking annoyed. “Managers. Your best bet is the managers.” 

Right, of course. He sighed and ran down the stairs. Goodbye, bright blue skies. Hello, early death. 

The two girls were sitting in a packed classroom, talking and laughing. Yukie was the first to notice him, and yeah, she was still mad. He dropped onto his knees, ready to apologize for the rest of the lunch period. However, Yukie just stopped, looking down interestedly at his sandwich. She raised an eyebrow. He looked back at the bread. It was still sad and limp, and now a bit crushed too. It didn’t look appetizing, but hey, it was food… no, sacrifices had to be made! Find Akaashi even if it meant paying off Yukie and her huge stomach!

Bokuto quickly explained the situation to the two girls. Yukie’s smile returned, and she looked like one of those cats that were always grinning. He thought he remembered Akaashi calling it a Cheshire smile. Kaori was no better, she'd had a good teacher. 

“Sooo you lost your boyfriend, and you’re asking us where he is?” 

“Wh-what the hell? Who told you that?!” He hadn’t even told them! And he’d sworn the rest of the team to secrecy! 

The two girls grinned at each other. “Not even denying it, huh? Looks like the little birdie that told me wasn’t wrong after all.” 

He rubbed at his face, hoping it helped him look a bit less like a tomato. “No, I am denying it! He’s not my boyfriend, and definitely not my wife!” 

The two looked at each other, scandalized. _But we never even suggested that!_ He could practically see the words on their lips. If he weren’t so irritated, he would have fallen into Dejected Mode long ago. And that sucked the most when Akaashi wasn’t around, because everyone else didn’t really care. Or called him an idiot, and he honestly wasn’t sure which was worse. 

“You can mock me all you want, you just don’t get his appeal!” 

Yukie’s eyes widened, and Kaori let out a loud guffaw. “Oh no, I completely get his appeal. He’s smart, tall, polite, super cute-”

“Nice,” Kaori chimed in. 

“Nice, sweet, has long legs, a great ass, and he’s super cute! I might have said that one twice, but it’s totally worth mentioning twice. Anyways, there’s not a person who doesn’t get it. What I don’t get…” she leaned in, “is _your_ appeal.” 

Bokuto pouted. That had nothing to do with anything, and now they were just trying to put him down, because he totally had appeal. When he was on the court, everyone was yelling his name. But regardless how much he asked, the girls had nothing else to say on the subject. Besides ‘think about it,’ which was probably his least favorite statement ever. Lunch ended, and he went back to his classroom annoyed and confused. Without having eaten a lunch or found Akaashi. 

Practice that afternoon was, well, pretty boring. Walking home alone was much of the same thing. He’d tried texting Akaashi, but he didn’t respond. He would usually respond in an instant, with texts so perfectly put together, neat little capitals and everything, that Bokuto actually wondered how he did it. 

And then, he slumped over, why wasn’t he responding? It was still the big question of the day. Akaashi wasn’t the type to fall in with the mob or get kidnapped, so that was off the table. …Maybe he was avoiding him. It’d slipped his mind, but Akaashi’d been saying some strange things lately and Bokuto had pretty much laughed them off and then lied. He felt a bit peeved. Well, yeah, but he’d been planning to tell the truth! It just hadn’t gone to plan, and Akaashi had no right to be so mad if that were the case! 

He sighed again, and padded off to the washroom. Damn that ‘Bird Boy of Fukurodani’ story, it was all its fault. 

 

Day two of Akaashi’s disappearance made the rest of the team uneasy. They had never seen him gone for so long. It’d taken them long enough, huffed Bokuto. Day three was complete panic. Konoha was freaking out because what if it was his fault, however that made sense, and Oh God, Akaashi would never let him live it down. Yukie and Onaga were both sobbing, although one was mourning the loss of a senpai and the other the loss of the hottest member on the team. Bokuto was arguably the worst off. He had so far lost three blazers, a pair of pants, and been sent to the office twice. For ‘disturbing the silence,’ and then for ‘aggravating younger students.’ Well excuse him, this was a serious mission that involved shouting and asking around! And if the faculty didn’t understand, there was nothing he could do! 

With this in mind, a couple of team members had finally decided to visit Akaashi’s house and see if he was there. Desperate times called for desperate measures. Akaashi’s mom opened the door, and her expression immediately brightened. 

Bokuto had always liked Akaashi’s mom. She was his complete opposite, never serious and super touchy. With the way she acted, she could almost pass for a high schooler. Akaashi had to have gotten his personality from his dad. Now there was a scary guy. But his looks… Totally his mom. Hell, Bokuto felt jealous when she kissed him goodbye some mornings. And he wasn’t sure of which. 

“Oh, you guys are here to see Keiji?”

They looked at each other. Had he actually been skipping school all along? That was a pretty nasty thing to do. 

“Yeah,” said Konoha without stopping to think, “where is he? I’ve been worried.” 

She laughed, a light twinkling sound. “It is like him to not tell anyone, huh? He got a pretty high fever, and he’s been sleeping it off. I guess I get it, he never liked seeming weak.” 

Some people’s eyes widened, others gasped. Akaashi? Sick? He was never sick. Like, never ever. Yeah, his mom had been blasé about the entire thing, but Bokuto couldn’t help but feel a bit down. If it was the other way around, Akaashi would have totally been worried half to death. That was almost enough to cause Bokuto to go into Dejected Mode right then and there on his doorstep. Bokuto felt like a piece of shit, but then he looked over at Konoha, and he for some reason looked even more distraught. 

“So, uh, c-can we see him?” Man, Konoha was actually shaking. 

Akaashi’s mom, though a bit confused, grinned again. “Sure! I guess he’s been waiting for you guys because he’s been calling some names in his sleep. Well, really, only-”

“Ma’am,” interrupted Yukie abruptly. She shook her head, the rest of the team frantically copying the motion. 

Her eyes widened, followed by a widening grin. “Oh, I see. He’d probably kill us all if I said that, huh?” They all nodded again in sync. Akaashi’s mother broke out into laughter. “Ok, my lips are sealed. I’ll lead you kids up to his room.” 

Bokuto stood there in confusion. What the hell had just happened? Sometimes he hated how the team thought he was so stupid he couldn’t pick up on when they did things he clearly wasn’t supposed to notice. Of course he did! He just had no idea what any of it meant. Missing Akaashi as much as ever now, he followed the rest of them up the stairs. 

Akaashi, usually all glares and long legs and witty comebacks, looked so small huddled underneath his comforter. Akaashi’s mom had shut the door, leaving just them and Akaashi, somehow still sleeping. On his bedside table sat a bottle labelled ‘Fever Aid – Extra Strength.’ A paragraph in red outlined side effects. That explained a lot. Bokuto looked around the room while the others hissed among themselves. What exactly were they supposed to do? Yeah, it was cool in movies and everything to take care of a sick person, but when so-called person was off in dream land, what was the plan? 

Maybe the others had an idea. He walked over, hoping they would take notice of him. 

“…Well, you can’t do it now! He’s sleeping!” 

“You don’t know that, maybe he’s just so pissed he’s pretending!”

“Why is everything always about you? You think his mother’s lying too?” 

“Shut up Komiyan! You don’t know how bad I already feel!”

Bokuto could take a lot of shit, but he… Well, no, he was very bad at taking shit. Akaashi told him once that was one of his many weak points, that he got emotional far too quickly. 

“Oy, what are you guys whispering about? Why can’t I hear too?” 

The rest promptly put fingers to their lips. Another of his weak points was his volume. And forgetting where he was. Well, he had a lot of weak points, he couldn’t fix them all in a single day! 

“It’s not fair that you guys are all telling secrets, and not telling me. And speaking of that, aren’t we supposed to be visiting Akaashi?! What the hell is- ”

“Bokuto-san?” 

Akaashi was looking over at them, eyes half lidded and cheeks red. His hair messy as ever, but sleek and sticking to his temples. And then there was the matter of the way he looked over at them all, unfocused and unsure of what he saw, rubbing his eyes and creasing his eyebrows when it obviously didn’t help. Looked like the medicine had really done everything it was supposed to and more. 

When no one reacted, all in horror or in awe, because both kind of made sense, he frowned and tried to get out of the bed. Which was bad, because that medicine would land him flat on his face, and _was he even dressed because if he wasn’t, Bokuto would literally die right there and then_ \- Oh God, what was wrong with him, this was a bad situation and he was being an idiot. 

“No, n-no, Akaashi don’t worry.” He pushed him back down, ignoring the way he was squinting and scowling, probably unable to see more than vague blobs. “I just came to see you, you don’t need to get up.” 

He nodded, pulling the blanket to under his chin. “Is it just you?” 

“Y-yeah, of course!” Someone behind him facepalmed. He turned around, giving them dirty looks. He wasn’t going to miss that sort of opportunity! They could just go away if they didn’t like it. But, some of them looked _very_ interested. Which was a bit concerning and kind of made him regret the decision. 

“Can I do it today?” 

“What?” 

“Touch your wings.” 

Oh, that. So he’d remembered that after all. He turned his gaze away. Well, no, of course not, because – Konoha suddenly jumped, shoving Bokuto out of the way. Whether he was happy or not about that, he had yet to decide. 

“Dude, I’m so sorry, if you’re actually sick because of what I said, I promise it was just a joke! Besides, bird human hybrids don’t actually exist, and I didn’t think you’d take it so seriously, because you’re so blunt and have that ‘Konoha, you bumbling idiot’ attitude, how could I know that you’d think yourself sick and everything? So yeah, believe me when I say I’m super sorry about it all!” 

Akaashi just blinked, looking about in confusion, before returning to a face Bokuto could only call ‘the Akaashi face.’ His heart kind of jumped at that. “Bokuto-san, you lied. Konoha-san’s here too. Konoha-san, you are a bumbling idiot, but I appreciate the apology.” 

At least he hadn’t lost his edge. It was kind of impressive, honestly. But as quick as it had come, it faded, as his eyes glazed over and he lay back down.  
“I’m feeling kind of tired.” He turned over in his bed, closing them all out. “Good night, everyone.” And like that, he was out. 

“…What just happened?” Konoha asked breathlessly. But no one really had an answer. 

 

Day four. The visit hadn’t been as lovey dovey as Bokuto’d hoped, but that was okay. No it wasn’t, he was disappointed as hell. But he was trying his best to be positive. It was what Akaashi would want. He made a game plan for when Akaashi came back to school. He’d obviously have to tell him all about that bird thing. Which wasn’t his favorite thought, but Akaashi would obviously ask again, and he still hated lying. Then maybe he’d ask Yukie how to woo a guy, because man, _he was in deep._

But then, while they were practicing that afternoon, and Bokuto was contemplating his fifth failed serve and what he’d do if Akaashi never came back, the doors to the gym opened, and there he was, looking around as if nothing’d ever happened. He failed a sixth spike at that. 

“Akaashi!” He ran towards him, pulling him into the biggest hug he could manage. The boy grunted, struggling to free his hands. 

“Bokuto-san,” he said in the evenest voice he could manage, “you failed that spike.” 

“Kaashi! We were having a moment there!”

Some other team members had crowded around, warning Bokuto about his rough handling, or welcoming Akaashi back. Konoha patted Akaashi’s back, and Komi gestured towards the net solemnly. He listened intently, nodding once in a while. 

“Akaashi! Akaashi! Watch me spike!” For the first time in what felt like forever, he hit the ball square on, watched it fly over and land with a crash at Washio’s feet. He looked over in anticipation. Akaashi, still a little flushed and wearing a thick sweater on a hot summer day, watched closely. And then he smiled, barely even, but it was something. 

“Very nice, Bokuto-san.” 

And just like that, Bokuto felt everything was right in the world again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why is writing Bokuto such a riot?


	3. Chapter 3

It’d been odd, to say the least. He’d been feverish for several days. Five, and that was unspeakable because he was never sick enough to stay in bed, much less for that many days. If he were in any other state of mind, he'd be worried about how the team fared in his absence, how the ever-needy captain was doing, what lessons he had missed in class. 

However, he wasn't. Far more pressing was the state of his memories, so murky and clouded that they were nearly indistinguishable. Put frankly, he couldn’t remember anything. Well, besides the Bird Boy. Because that he might never forget. 

3 o’clock exactly, Akaashi awoke. As if the fever that held him captive let go at that time exactly and he was free to wonder about his room and think clearly about what the hell was actually going on. Every night, his room was bathed in the strangest blue he’d ever seen, and there was Bokuto standing on his window’s sill. 

It was funny at first. 

“Hey, I don’t know what’s going on or anything,” he puffed out his chest, wings curled high above his head, “but I’ll keep you company!” 

He nodded, leaving them in silence. Bokuto, never one to happily accept such a silence, became antsy. He squirmed, pretty much doing away with any of the elegance that came with having wings. “Hey, you don’t want to ask me about them or anything?” 

Sure, there was a lot he could ask. He didn’t know how exactly to bridge the subject, though. He picked his words carefully, making sure they weren’t rude or overwhelming or anything else that could push Bokuto over the edge and into a Dejected Mode. 

“Do they run in the family?” 

He laughed as if he’d never heard a funnier joke. “Kaashi, can you imagine my mother with these sorts of things?! She’d totally freak!” Point taken. Bokuto’s mother had enough problems without having to deal with wings hanging off her back. 

“Do they know?” 

“I’m not sure. Maybe.” He was beginning to look oddly panicked, like he hadn’t anticipated the line of questioning. As if he hadn't suggested it in the first place. “C’mon Akaashi, enough with the 20 questions! Let’s do something cool!” 

“…Like what?” 

“I told you, let’s fly over Tokyo! It’s great, I’ve never seen anything cooler!” Akaashi could only imagine, how the neon lights would paint the ground in reds and blues, make the world a spinning blur of color and light. How it might feel to soar through the night and feel the wind race through his hair, hear his laughs like they were far away, barely even his own. 

But he couldn’t, because he felt sick again. There were the vines of fever, dragging him back down, drowning out Bokuto’s voice. Making things intangible and days opaque as ever. 

 

“Mom, have you ever had these, I don’t know, oddly vivid dreams?” 

She smiled, drumming her fingers on the counter. “What kind?” Anyone who didn’t know her would think she was just the same as always, but she had certainly been worried sick for the past week. 

“I’m not sure. Dreams that you feel like you wouldn’t be able to wake up from, ones that you can almost touch.” 

She smiled smugly, laying her head on her hands. “Are you sure these are dreams?” 

“Yes. No.” But there he was, smile as bright as ever, with feathers that might have slipped through his fingers. “I don’t know.”

 

The third night. 

“Kaashi, I’ve been waiting for so long! Let’s fly around!” 

“…I can’t, Bokuto-san.” It wasn’t without regret he said it. How he loved the prospect. But who knew how his sickness worked, whether he’d fall back out midflight in Bokuto’s arms, and then what? The guy couldn’t tie his own shoes, he’d certainly have no idea what to do with a limp body. 

“Aw, I promise I won’t drop you or anything! And I properly learned to fly and everything.” He pouted, wings falling alongside his hair. Curious, that. 

“Bokuto-san, I promise we’ll practice for an extra hour when I come back to school if you drop the subject.” 

“Really? Hell yeah!” He stopped midway, turning back angrily towards Akaashi. “Right, why aren’t you at school anyways?” 

Hadn’t he realized it yet? That he was sick as a dog when it wasn’t 3 AM and Bokuto didn’t appear, like magic, sitting on his window sill? Wasn’t this all too weird, too otherworldly? He clearly hadn’t been thinking clearly if he had just accepted this bird hybrid standing in his room each night and talking to him as if nothing strange was even happening. 

“…Don’t worry yourself over it, Bokuto-san. It’s nothing.” 

“Oh,” Bokuto took a feather in his hand, twirling the end around his finger. “I won’t, if you say so.” 

 

His mother handed him a sweater. At least if he only attended the practice, he wouldn’t have to wear the stifling uniform. That was probably the only good thing about missing school. 

“Keiji, you’re sure you want to go?” 

“Yes mom, I’ve been away too long. The team will get disorganized, if I’m not around.” 

“Oh, I forgot to tell you! They came to visit when you were sick.” 

“They did?”

 

He thought he remembered it vaguely. Something on the fourth day, after the night when things began to get odd. As always, there was Bokuto at 3 AM. He was quiet, eyes locked on a distant point in the dark of night. The feathers swung with the gentle wind. 

“Can I touch them?”

He looked vaguely disturbed as he ran a hand through them. Looked down at them gloomily, followed the winding lines of gray with his eyes. “Tomorrow, perhaps.” 

Something had been off that night. Bokuto too withdrawn, himself too forthcoming. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but that exchange had certainly been strange. Though, in retrospect, that might have been just his feverish mind warping things. 

 

“And?”

“Oh, not much. Koutarou was here too.” She smirked, like she was holding onto some grand joke. She didn’t realize it wasn’t much of a joke to him. “You kept saying his name, you know.” 

“Oh.” How embarrassing. “Was I?” He wished he was better at playing things off in front of his mother. 

“Yes, you totally were! I won’t pry, but you think your own mother doesn’t pick up on these things?” 

“I mean, I’d hope you wouldn’t. I can’t imagine what mother would want to know exactly what her teenaged son is thinking.” 

“Oh, Keiji.” She ran a hand through his hair, placing a kiss on his forehead. He reluctantly let her do so. Apparently, she’d been worse when he’d been younger, peppering him with kisses and leaving lipstick stains across his face when he was in preschool. No matter. She was his mother. “You sure you don’t want me to give you a ride to school?” 

“No, it’s alright.” He wanted to go out, feel the sun warm his tired limbs, blaze trails down his face and arms. He wanted to go anywhere that wasn’t a room brimming with blue shadows and impossible creatures and thoughts he didn’t much want to acknowledge. He stepped outside, covering his eyes with a hand. It was certainly summer, muggy and scorching and echoing with the cries of cicadas. Drat. Looked like things really didn’t fade as easily as he wished with a dose of blue sky and Vitamin D. 

 

He didn’t much expect to be welcomed back the way he was. He’d been away for a week, but when he walked into the gym and everyone’s eyes turned to him, wide in surprise, he felt like he’d just climbed out of a grave. Only then would the complete silence, followed by flying hugs and even tears be warranted. He really couldn’t explain why Onaga and Yukie were crying so hard. 

Still, it was somewhat nice. Unexpectedly sweet. Enough to make him grin and send faraway the tumult and sickening blue lights-

“Akaashi! Akaashi! Watch me spike!”

Ah, there he was. The legendary Bird Boy who somehow knew far more than he let on. Who had wings threaded with silver and didn’t let anyone touch them. Who became unrecognizable at night, not the Bokuto he knew. 

Who preformed a wonderful spike that resounded throughout the whole gym and would have been game changing in nearly any other situation. Who, with or without wings, was pretty stunning when he chose to be. 

“Very nice, Bokuto-san.” 

 

How he wished that were the end. That the matter of him being a bird could be wrapped up neatly and placed in a closet until need for further inspection. He sat on the bench, twiddling his thumbs, waiting for the sun to sink and the players to drift out and it to become the two of them again. There was no way he could just drop the subject. Because what? Because of that last night, where it had somehow become less about the fucking wings and more about himself? 

 

“You love me, don’t you?” 

That had certainly taken him aback. Made him want to puke or ignore it or do anything that made it clear that no, he didn’t. He really couldn’t though. When it counted, he was just as poor at lying as the person he always criticized for the same thing. “In what way?” 

“You know what I mean.” 

Yes, he did. However, that didn’t change the vigor with which he didn’t want to admit it out loud. Or even consider it, because he usually didn’t. When it came to emotions and wavering things like ‘love’, he took them in stride, hoped they’d pass without too much strife. “Why are you asking?” 

“I don’t really have to ask to know the answer. You think it’s not obvious, but it certainly is.” When had he become so concise, so different? Was it something about the wings after all? “You can’t believe that people wouldn’t pick up on it when you follow me around like a puppy. Don’t be naïve, it’s unlike you.” 

“W-what are you talking about, Bokuto-san?” 

He didn’t respond. Instead he smiled cockily, running a hand coarsely through his hair, the one he never touched because he was scared any movement would make it ‘boring.’ Ya know, he’d start to gesticulate, wide eyed, it’s not cool if it’s flat and everything! That was Bokuto-san.

Akaashi struggled to fill the silence. “Well, what about you then?” 

“Me?” He grinned as if he’d been waiting for the question all along. “I have crushes all the time. They’re not a big deal though. People catch my attention, fall away, rinse and repeat.” He winked. "If you catch my drift."

He stepped towards the window, laying a foot over the ledge. Stretching his wings, brilliant as ever, as if ready to swoop away and leave forever. He frowned. “This is unproductive, isn’t it? Let’s talk tomorrow.” And he jumped down, just like that, but when Akaashi ran to the window, crooking his head in every direction, it was like no one had ever been there. Like a puff of smoke, dazzling and intangible and gone with the wind. 

 

“…Akaashi! Oi, are you listening to what I’m saying?” He shook his head, looked about the empty gym. Bokuto was standing by the volleyball cart, eyebrows knotted. Akaashi studied his face. Yes, he’d studied Bokuto enough to know, that was a disquieting expression. And it was directed towards him. 

“Yes, I am Bokuto-san. What is it?” 

“…Do you feel better now? I’ve been worried.” He scratched the back of his neck, sweeping his gaze across the room, looking at anything besides Akaashi. He’d never been very good at confrontations. Once upon a time, when his math teacher had insisted he explain why he wrote a test in purple marker, it had been a dare from Kuroo, he’d actually gone into Dejected Mode right then and there. The third years had actually come to Akaashi’s classroom, breathless and frantic, begging him to fix it. 

The memory was almost enough to give him pause, stare hard at the boy who was shooting glances in his direction. “I feel a lot better. Thanks for worrying.”

“Oh, I-I just… ha, yeah.” Akaashi narrowed his eyes. He was usually mucking up his words and dropping conversations, but this was a different beast entirely. He had been awfully antsy during the entire Bird Boy fiasco, but now it was even worse. Besides, Akaashi already knew he was the Bird Boy, and he underwent some kind of weird personality change when night came and he sprouted wings. Or he didn’t. Who knew? For perhaps the first time, Akaashi really didn’t. 

“What’s wrong?” 

“I…” He shook his head comically, took a deep breath, and struck his own cheeks. Akaashi was only briefly taken aback. “I have something I need to say. About, ya know, the Bird Boy.” 

Here it was. Bokuto came over to the bench, sitting down hesitantly, just far enough so that they could look each other in the eye without picking up on subtleties. Whatever, Akaashi was already used to such tactics, and it’s not that Bokuto ever did them consciously, his body just moved in ways that kept him as far away from failure as possible. It was an odd concept because he failed a great deal nonetheless. 

It’s not that Akaashi hated any of that though. Not in the slightest. Quite frankly, Bokuto wasn’t Bokuto without all his little quirks, and had he been in love, these would have only made him fall harder. 

He turned Akaashi’s way, and bowed his head so low it hit the bench with a worrying thud. “Aghaashi, I’m sorry! I didn’t tell you because I thought you would be disappointed and everything, but I totally felt like shit, and so I promise I’ll tell you everything now!” 

He waited. And waited a bit more, because Bokuto neither raised his head nor said anything. “…Bokuto-san?” 

“Yeah, yeah! I’m saying it now. See, the thing is... there’s no Bird Boy.” He looked up, eyes pleading and watery, as if he couldn’t even handle saying what he had. “I know you were so into it, hell you even got sick over it, but I totally saw them set up that picture thing. It was a cutout, and then they took a blurry picture, and I just happened to see to see them do it, they didn’t see me, but I didn’t know what they were doing, and then the rumor started to go around, and Konoha showed me the picture, and then I got it and you asked about it but I really didn't want to say anything…” He stopped to take a much-needed gulp of air. “And yeah, I knew it knew the Bird Boy was fake since I saw that picture. But you were so into it, I couldn’t just say it…” 

He was blowing out his reddened cheeks, absentmindedly fixing his hair, looking inquiringly at Akaashi. Like a child who had stolen a cookie from the damn jar, not effectively pulled the rug from out under his feet. 

What exactly were _those_ then? Dreams? Incredibly vivid dreams that questioned everything he knew? 

“Y-you’re sure? You don’t have a twin or anything?” He must have looked irrational, crazed even, because Bokuto was suddenly the concerned party. 

“What? No, Akaashi, I promise the Bird Boy isn’t real.” He shook his head vigorously. “I wish it was! I could be in the Top 3 then, blow everyone else out of the water!” He smiled proudly, appearing to have forgotten the scope of the conversation. Akaashi hadn’t. He thought hard. Sure, it was always a possibility, and deep down, it had always been the most logical choice, but where did that put him? Prone to delusion, fanatical, and…

Suddenly aware that there was far more to this than he had previously thought. Not a passing infatuation, or misplaced affection, but love. Sometime ago, he had, without realizing, fallen deeply in love with the person sitting across from him. 

“Why are you even so sure he exists? Aren’t you the one who’s always like,” he pulled at the corners of his lips and eyes, “Bokuto-san, that’s nonsense, please stop it.” 

Akaashi narrowed his eyes. He’d only ignore that one in light of the current situation. 

“…I had these dreams.” 

Bokuto’s eyes widened, and he moved closer. “Dreams? About what?” 

“The Bird Boy.” 

“T-the Bird Boy.” His face warped in thought. And then he flushed, and stared hard at Akaashi’s own face. Who might have noticed had he not been caught in a web of his own nebulous understandings. “And?! What did he do?” 

“Nothing, really. Talked, showed off his wings, walked around. Pretty normal things.” 

The gears in Bokuto’s head were turning like they’d never before. “Well, what about his wings? His wings!?” 

“Yeah,” Akaashi smiled vaguely. “They were beautiful.” 

Bokuto could have sat there forever, opening and closing his mouth like a fish out of water before Akaashi would have realized that his own statement had not been lost on either of them. Which was entirely unexpected in his own defence, because Bokuto’s ability to understand subtleties was close to none. It wasn’t with laxness that he had studied the ecology of Bokuto after all. 

“Akaashi, I know you probably don’t remember…” He drowned out uncertainly. His eyes met Akaashi’s for a split second before going on a frantic tour of the gym. “Well, when we came to your house, you asked –” He gulped audibly. “If you could touch my wings. Does that mean I’m the Bird Boy?! You were dreaming about me?!” He had climbed on the bench, breathless and cheeks carmine, perfectly coifed hair askew. 

Oh God. Akaashi brought a hand to his face, cursing his febrile self once again. What the _fuck._ How was he to even go about explaining that? Some serious backtracking would be needed. “I suppose I was. Don’t worry about it though, it’s just- ”

“It’s OK, Aghaashi!” He bounced his way over to Akaashi, having completely forgotten how worried he had been mere minutes ago. “I’ve had dreams about you too!” 

He narrowed his eyes. “What kind of dreams?” 

“Oh, I’d rather not…” He crumpled back down with a weak laugh. “Let’s just drop that. So, you totally have to tell me about dream me! Is he cooler, or smarter, or don’t tell me, he has bigger guns?!” 

Akaashi scrunched up his nose. “Why should I tell you when you won’t tell me?” 

“Aghaashi! Ok, you remember that big Russian dude from Nekoma?” Akaashi nodded, but he had no idea where this was going. “If I told you, I would become him, and you would totally become that little guy who always hits him. Because you would beat me half to death.” There was so much wrong with that. One, Akaashi was never violent so that was pretty insulting. Two, Yaku would certainly have hit him if he’d heard that comment. Three, Akaashi considered telling him so he could do exactly that, because what kind of dreams exactly was he having? 

Whatever. Akaashi sighed, this parody of a conversation would never end at this rate. “He was like you at first. Exactly the same, in fact. Then he started to become weird. Cryptic, almost. More like Kuroo-san, or Konoha-san, or even myself.” Well, that made more sense in retrospect. Bokuto only nodded, urging him to continue. “He told me I could touch his wings later.” 

Bokuto huffed, peeling off his shirt shamelessly. “He’s making me look bad! Look, do you see any?” Akaashi looked at his bare back carefully. No, no feathers or nubs or suspicious looking lumps. He ran a finger down the pale skin, feeling the muscles shift and coil beneath his touch. “A-Akaashi, what are you doing?!” The skin was warm, smooth, pliant. “Just a second, Bokuto-san.” Yes, no wings at all. He pulled the shirt back down. 

Bokuto was flushing as deeply as ever. “…one more minute of that and I would have…” And mumbling to himself again. 

“Then, he started to say strange things.” He considered not saying anything more, because what more was it then his own mind working in overdrive and confusing him? Then it occurred to him maybe he was right. Maybe he ought to trust himself, and everything he apparently knew about Bokuto without having realised it. “…He said I was in love with you.” 

Akaashi raised his eyes, and Bokuto’s held his own. The silence was deafening. Then Bokuto’s eyes widened, and he clumsily grabbed Akaashi’s hands between his own. “I like you too! Will you go out with me?!” His hands trembled so hard, and his face had gone red so many times, Akaashi wondered whether he too was slightly feverish. 

“W-wait, I didn’t…” But then Bokuto’s hair started to fall and shoulders droop, and Akaashi couldn’t pull his hand out of the hold no matter how hard he tried. Which must have meant something. He sighed, letting his muscles loosen and eyes rest on their tangled hands. Well, he did have the excuse that he was just coming out of his life’s greatest fever.

 

He later asked Bokuto how many crushes he’d had before. His eyes brightened, and he replied immediately. “Three! My teacher in first grade, a girl in middle school named Yumi, and you!” And how long had they lasted? Almost sheepishly, he responded that the first had lasted three years, the second four, the last two. Akaashi smiled imperceptibly. Any other day he would have cursed his faulty analysis, but not that day. The other, he hadn’t been right about everything. He hadn’t been anything more than a rugged and unfinished shadow of the real one. 

 

“…Are you serious?” 

“Would I ever lie, Konoha?! He totally said yes!” Bokuto, not wearing a shirt and already completely drenched in sweat for whatever reason, draped a hand around Akaashi’s waist and pulled him in close. God, thought Akaashi, where was that residential witch when he needed her? 

“Please don’t touch me like that, Bokuto-san.” 

“But Akaashi, what about when we…” He grinned suggestively, to the disgust of the rest of the team. Akaashi shuddered at the thought. 

“Put your mind at ease, we won’t.” He left the changeroom, ignoring the indignant squawks of the captain. 

 

“So?” Konoha grinned from the sidelines as if he hadn’t been grovelling at Akaashi’s bedside less than a week ago. “You still think he’s the Bird Boy or nah?” 

Akaashi scrutinized him as he hopped across the court, ran from one end to another. He wasn’t the Bird Boy. He had no wings. But when he jumped, face determined and hand held back, posed to unleash a thunderous spike, he looked as if he were flying. As if a pair of wings had fanned out behind him, wispy and ethereal, a trick of the sunlight or mirage of the moment. Rumors about the Bird Boy had long ago died down, people were fickle, and rumors were only rumors. But here he was, thought Akaashi, in his full glory. The Bird Boy. 

“You know, Konoha-san, suggestion is a powerful thing. Your mind can take things and spin them about until you don’t know which way is up or down anymore.” 

Konoha’s smile faltered briefly. “What do you mean?” 

“Nothing much. Just don’t think you’re in the clear just because the rumor’s died down.” Akaashi walked towards the court, ready to take his rightful place as setter and see those crystalline wings unfurl once more. 

 

“...Wait, get back over here! What do you mean?! Akaashi, I apologized! Akaashi!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I do love the 'Fukurodani are birds' thing. And the 'Akaashi has vivid and surreal dreams' thing. And the 'Akaashi doesn't know he's in love' trope. 
> 
> In all fairness though, who doesn't? 
> 
> <3


End file.
